Product Swap Featuring Finding JOY in Sixth Grade

Hey guys! Today I have joined up with a group of other FABULOUS bloggers to do a product swap. Today I am featuring one of my great blogging friends Kim from Finding JOY in Sixth Grade. Please, please, please head over to her site and follow her! She has some great posts. Click on her button below to see her blog.

The product I am reviewing for Finding JOY in 6th Grade is her Back-to-School Getting to Know You game. Here is a picture so that you can get an idea of what I’m talking about.

I love this activity because it requires very little set up and materials. If I wanted, all I actually have to do is print and cut one line down the middle to separate the rules from the spinner. For myself and my class, I will be laminating the spinners so that they will last through my five classes that I teach. Each group needs a pencil, a die, and a paper clip along with the question table.

Students tend to argue over who gets to go first, but Kim has eliminated this by having the student with the most letters in their name go first. That student rolls the die and spins the spinner. They look up the square that matches their combination and then answers the “get-to-know-you” question in that box. Play proceeds clockwise until the teacher says “times up.”

Here is a picture of my beautiful model’s (my daughter’s) hand showing you how to set up the spinner.

Look at her technique!

This is a great way to start off the year with my students. For one, I teach sixth grade in a middle school. We have students coming together for the first time from at least four elementary schools, not to mention multiple transfer students. It is very important to have some kind of getting-to-know-you activity. I do A LOT of games and activities throughout the year that require students to follow directions, use dice, and work with paper clip spinners. The student desks in my classroom are ancienttorn-up slanted, so students need to get used to not letting the dice slide off the desks and hit the floor. I’m all about activities that can work on multiple skills, so getting used to these manipulatives along with getting to know each other makes this a super, great activity!

Click on the picture below for the link back to Kim’s blog so that you can download the activity!